Former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) is setting up shop as a visiting scholar at the policy think tank American Enterprise Institute.

Gramm, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, helped write the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed restrictions on banks affiliating with securities firms. After leaving Capitol Hill, he spent nearly a decade as vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank.

He will focus on economic policy at AEI.

In addition to his new scholar role, Gramm is senior partner at US Policy Metrics, which bills itself as &ldquo;an economic and public policy research firm serving asset managers, hedge funds and the investor community,&rdquo; on its website. &ldquo;We provide independent, strategic analysis of how current and proposed legislation and regulations affect the economy, industries and individual firms.&rdquo;

Gramm is traveling abroad and was not available for immediate comment, an AEI employee said.

&ldquo;Senator Gramm is one of the most innovative policymakers of our time,&rdquo; said AEI President Arthur Brooks in a statement. &ldquo;The Washington policy community has great need of his ideas and wisdom. We are thrilled to have him as part of the AEI Economic Policy Studies team.&rdquo;